A few weeks ago I said this:
Every Android developer I know will dance in the streets the day they can drop support for pre-ICS versions of Android
Well, it looks like it’s time for me to hit the streets because WordPress for Android – the app I work on – is dropping Gingerbread support in new versions.
Strangely, though, I was a bit nervous when we first talked about doing this. Leaving any users stranded really bothered me.
But then I thought about how much extra work we put into maintaining backwards compatibility for a dwindling number of people, and I considered how much better the app could be for the large majority of our users if we spent that time improving it for newer devices.
When I looked at it that way, I wondered whether we should’ve dropped Gingerbread support even sooner. And I wondered how many other Android developers are continuing to make the majority of their users pay this Gingerbread Tax.
If you’re one of them, perhaps it’s time your app stops supporting pre-ICS devices, too.